The present invention relates to bearing liners and methods of constructing same which are particularly adapted to self-aligning bearings and bushings (all of which are hereinafter called "bearings") and to products produced thereby. This application comprises an improvement over my previous U.S. Pat. No. 3,471,207, patented Oct. 7, 1969, entitled "Bearing Liner Having Etched Particles Embedded Therein"; U.S. Pat. No. 3,528,714, patented Sept. 15, 1970, entitled "Bearing and Method of Bearing Construction"; U.S. Pat. No. 3,562,885, patented Feb. 16, 1971, entitled "Method of Making Bearing"; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 563,569 filed Mar. 31, 1975 in the U.S. Patent Office, entitled "Bearing Assembly and Liner".
Traditionally, bearings have been lubricated by liquid lubricants such as oil. It has been necessary to design such bearings carefully so that they would retain oil for some time. Even with the best design, however, it has been necessary to periodically replenish the oil supply. If the oil was not replenished, either because the bearings were in out-of-the-way locations or because they were not properly maintained, the bearings became dry and wore rapidly.
Many efforts have been made to produce bearings using dry lubricants such as various types of plastic, graphite, or special chemicals. Generally speaking, these dry lubricants are soft and consequently are easily distorted under heavy loads. In particular, either the dry lubricant was squeezed out of the bearing or else the bearings became loose and wore rapidly. In addition, it is characteristically difficult to bond such dry lubricants to a desired bearing member. While certain of these efforts have resulted in the manufacturing of satisfactory bearing liners, the methods for manufacturing same have involved costly and complicated manufacturing techniques involving many forms of special purpose machinery and apparatus. This special purpose machinery and apparatus in most cases was required for the preparation of the self-lubricating materials for their ultimate introduction into an operational bearing. More specifically, the prior art approaches involved the initial step of preparing the bearing liner, curing same and, finally, assembling it within its associated bearing.